How Something as Simple as Gratitude Can Chase the Blues Away

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When you’re feeling blue, you don’t just want to feel better, you want to feel better INSTANTLY – as in 10 minutes ago. One of my favorite tricks for picking yourself back up is, at once, ridiculously easy and ridiculously hard.

Easy because it simply involves expressing gratitude and hard because that’s the last thing we feel like doing when we’re feeling down. And yet, it’s the best – and fastest – way to snap out of a really rotten mood.

A while back, I was feeling kind of like a grump’s grump. I could’ve given Oscar the Grouch a few pointers on sourness. I honestly can’t even remember what put me in such a way, but I distinctly remember just sitting and fuming on my living room couch for the better part of the morning.

It finally occurred to me that it really wasn’t much of a way to spend the day – especially one so close to Christmas. I decided to give my favorite “mood zapper” a try and, sure enough, after thinking of a few things (more like people) I was grateful for, the dark cloud lifted and whatever had gotten me off course that morning suddenly didn’t seem so important.

The thing is, we can only entertain one dominant thought at a time – whether it’s a negative one or a positive one is just about entirely up to us. If we put our energy into focusing on positivity, there isn’t any room left for negativity. It has to pack up its nasty little bags and leave.

What I love most about this lovely little book is this: It will help you to focus on gratitude, joy, and hopefulness BEFORE negativity has a chance to take root.

From the Introduction:

In the moment we give thanks, everything changes.

Our hearts crack open. We are flooded with love and light. And in that exact instant, we shift from our negative state to an awareness that positive, joyous, and brimming with bliss – we experience the Divine healing that is our birthright.

The trick is to learn how to create this moment not just once in our lifetimes, but over and over again.

From the Back Cover:

. . . Our hearts crack open. We are flooded with love. And in that exact instant, we shift to an awareness that is positive, joyous, and brimming.

Sharing uplifting stories that travel from the beginnings of life to the end, Living a Life of Gratitude shows you how to open your heart to a journey of reflection that will help you slow down and appreciate life for what it is. Whether you use it as a source for discovering inspiration or for strength in times of struggle, this book is a guide to finding light and love, even when you least expect it.

Making time for reflection, feedback, AND gratitude has made a huge change for me these past few years. Gratitude is more like a practice or a habit than a state of being. Doing it every day is critical. Thanks for the post!

Very interesting. In my country we have got a quote “is well born to be grateful”. However, not every time we thank the pleasure of the, it is a really good feeling when we do. I will try to remember every day your trick: “The trick is to learn how to create this moment not just once in our lifetimes, but over and over again.”

Just want to share. For me, when I’m feeling down the best trick is to go somewhere you love a place or to somebody you love as for me its my grandmother’s place. I love talking to her no matter what it is we talk and it really pick’s me up instantly. Everybody always has a special place to go to.

I couldn’t agree more about the importance of gratitude. I’ve tried to make it a habit to go through the things I am grateful for every morning as I sip my first cup of coffee. It feels so much better than worrying about what could possibly go wrong through the day (what I used to do).

It was quite an inspiring book. I found another very inspiring book written by an indian author Dineshwar Dhadwal ‘The Homecoming’ available as ebook on Amazon. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a great book of self helf

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